Establishment of an indirect immunofluorescence assay for the detection of African swine fever virus antibodies

African swine fever(ASF)continues to cause enormous economic loss to the global pig industry.Since there is no safe and effective vaccine,accurate and timely diagnosis of ASF is essential to implement control measures.Indirect immunofluorescence assay(IFA)is a gold standard serological method recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health(WOAH).In this study,we used primary fetal kidney cells to establish a wild boar cell line(BK2258)that supported the efficient replication of ASF virus(ASFV)SD/DY-I/21 and showed visible cytopathic effect(CPE).Moreover,using BK2258,we established a sensitive and specific IFA for ASFV antibody detection.To standardize and evaluate the performance of this assay,we used serum samples from pigs infected with the low virulent genotype I SD/DY-I/21 and genotype II HLJ/HRB1/20,and immunized with the vaccine candidate HLJ/18-7GD,field samples,and negative serum samples.The IFA reacted with the ASFV-positive sera and displayed bright fluorescence foci.There was no non-specific green fluorescence due to cellular senescence or other cell damage-causing factors.Compared to a commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(iELISA),ASFV antibodies were detected 1–4 days earlier using our IFA.The detection limits of the IFA and iELISA for the same ASFV-antibody positive serum samples were 1:25,600 and 1:6,400,respectively,indicating that the IFA is more sensitive than iELISA.The newly established IFA was highly specific and did not cross-react with sera positive for six other important porcine pathogens(i.e.,Classical swine fever virus(CSFV),Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus(PRRSV),Porcme circovirus type 2(PCV2),Pseudorabies virus(PRV),Foot-and-Mouth disease virus type O(FMDV/O),and Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus(PEDV)).This study thus provides a sensitive,specific,and reliable detection method that is suitable for the serological diagnosis of ASF.

A multiplex real-time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of classical swine fever virus,African swine fever virus,and atypical porcine pestivirus

With the implementation of the C-strain vaccine,classical swine fever(CSF) has been under control in China,which is currently in a chronic atypical epidemic situation.African swine fever(ASF) emerged in China in 2018 and spread quickly across the country.It is presently occurring sporadically due to the lack of commercial vaccines and farmers’ increased awareness of biosafety.Atypical porcine pestivirus(APPV) was first detected in Guangdong Province,China,in 2016,which mainly harms piglets and has a local epidemic situation in southern China.These three diseases have similar clinical symptoms in pig herds,which cause considerable losses to the pig industry.They are difficult to be distinguished only by clinical diagnosis.Therefore,developing an early and accurate simultaneous detection and differential diagnosis of the diseases induced by these viruses is essential.In this study,three pairs of specific primers and Taq-man probes were designed from highly conserved genomic regions of CSFV(5’ UTR),African swine fever virus(ASFV)(B646L),and APPV(5’ UTR),followed by the optimization of reaction conditions to establish a multiplex real-time PCR detection assay.The results showed that the method did not cross-react with other swine pathogens(porcine circovirus type 2(PCV2),porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus(PRRSV),foot-and-mouth disease virus(FMDV),pseudorabies virus(PRV),porcine parvovirus(PPV),and bovine viral diarrhea virus BVDV).The sensitivity results showed that CSFV,ASFV,and APPV could be detected as low as 1 copy μL–1;the repeatability results showed that the intra-assay and interassay coefficient of variation of ASFV,CSFV,and APPV was less than 1%.Twenty-two virus samples were detected by the multiplex real-time PCR,compared with national standard diagnostic and patented method assay for CSF(GB/T 27540–2011),ASF(GB/T 18648–2020),and APPV(CN108611442A),respectively.The sensitivity of this triple real-time PCR for CSFV,ASFV,and APPV was almost the same,and the compliance results were the same(100%).A total of 451 clinical samples were detected,and the results showed that the positive rates of CSFV,ASFV,and APPV were 0.22% (1/451),1.3%(6/451),and 0%(0/451),respectively.This assay provides a valuale tool for rapid detection and accurate diagnosis of CSFV,ASFV,and APPV.

Developing a duplex ARMS-qPCR method to differentiate genotype Ⅰ and Ⅱ African swine fever viruses based on their B646L genes

Africanswinefever(ASF),causedbythe African swine fever virus (ASFV), is an acute, hemorrhagic, and contagious disease of domestic pigs and wild boars.The disease is notifiable and listed by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH)(Wang N et al. 2019).

表达CSFV E2线性表位的PCV2病毒样颗粒的制备及免疫原性研究

为制备携带猪瘟病毒(CSFV)E2蛋白的猪圆环病毒2型(PCV2)病毒样颗粒(VLP),并在小鼠体内评价其免疫原性,本研究采用PCR扩增PCV2 Cap基因,利用重叠延伸PCR将PCV2 Cap蛋白的诱饵表位(aa169~aa180)替换成编码两个连续的CSFV E2蛋白线性表位(aa829~aa837)的融合基因(PCV2-Cap^(169~180)-E2^(829~837))经测序鉴定正确后克隆至载体pET-32a(+)中,构建重组质粒p-Cap-E2并采用PCR方法鉴定正确后转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),经IPTG诱导表达重组蛋白(PCV2-Cap-E2),采用改良的镍亲和层析法纯化重组蛋白,并利用SDS-PAGE与western blot对重组蛋白的表达形式及反应原性鉴定;利用透射电镜观察纯化的重组蛋白能否形成VLP;利用本研究制备的VLP、PCV2及CSFV商品化疫苗分别免疫小鼠,采用ELISA方法检测免疫后不同时间小鼠体内的抗体水平及细胞因子含量。SDS-PAGE结果显示,在49 ku处出现目的条带,且重组蛋白主要以可溶性形式表达,纯化得到单一的目的蛋白;western blot结果显示,重组蛋白能够与猪源PCV2多克隆抗体(PAb)、猪源CSFV PAb及HRP标记的6×His-Tag小鼠单克隆抗体(MAb)发生特异性反应,在49 ku处出现特异性条带;电镜观察可见重组蛋白形成规则的VLP;抗体的ELISA结果显示,与PBS对照相比,VLP能够诱导小鼠产生较高的PCV2及CSFV抗体水平(P<0.01),与各商品化疫苗均无显著差异。细胞因子的ELISA结果显示,与PBS对照组相比,VLP能够诱导小鼠产生较高水平的细胞因子(P<0.01)。体外病毒中和试验结果显示,VLP免疫的小鼠血清中具有中和PCV2的活性。综上所述,本实验首次在大肠杆菌中可溶性表达并获得了纯化的重组蛋白(PCV2-Cap-E2),且其能够在体外自组装成VLP,并可刺激小鼠产生针对PCV2 Cap蛋白及CSFV E2蛋白的特异性抗体,为研制针对PCV2和CSFV的新型二联VLP疫苗提供了物质基础。

稳定表达猪BRD4-BD1/2蛋白的猪肺泡巨噬细胞传代细胞系的构建及其用于ASFV增殖的效果观察

前期研究发现宿主表观遗传调控蛋白——含溴结构域蛋白质4(bromodomain-containing protein 4,BRD4)有助于非洲猪瘟病毒(African swine fever virus,ASFV)的复制,为了深入研究BRD4对ASFV复制的影响,通过筛选出显著促进ASFV复制的BRD4-BD1/2结构域,利用慢病毒表达系统成功构建稳定表达BRD4-BD1/2结构域的3D4/21细胞系,分析ASFV在3D4/21-BRD4-BD1/2细胞系与WT细胞系之间的复制差异。首先,以家猪基因BRD4-BD1/2为靶标,构建了含有3x Flag标签的重组质粒pLVX-IRES-puro-3x Flag-BRD4-BD1/2,并将其与质粒pMD2.G和pSPAX2共同转染至HEK-293T细胞进行慢病毒包装,获得具有感染能力的慢病毒。使用慢病毒感染3D4/21细胞后通过嘌呤霉素药物筛选,成功获得了稳定表达BRD4-BD1/2结构域的3D4/21细胞系。利用RT-qPCR和Western blot技术分别检测了ASFV感染3D4/21-BRD4-BD1/2细胞后CP204L和B602L基因的转录水平以及相应蛋白表达水平,并通过HAD50测定评价ASFV的复制能力。研究结果表明:成功构建了稳定表达BRD4-BD1/2结构域的3D4/21细胞系。与3D4/21-WT细胞系相比,BRD4-BD1/2稳定表达细胞系能够显著促进ASFV复制。本研究提供了深入研究BRD4蛋白在ASFV复制中功能的生物材料,并为ASFV疫苗候选株的开发提供了理论基础。

Virucidal activity of MICRO-CHEM PLUS against African swine fever virus

African swine fever(ASF) was first discovered and reported in East Africa in 1921 and it has been listed as a notifiable animal disease by the World Organization for Animal Health(WOAH) due to the high morbidity and mortality(WOAH 2019). African swine fever virus(ASFV) can persist in pig farm environments, carcasses, and various pig products(Petrini et al. 2019). ASF has caused significant economic losses to the pig industry since its outbreak in China in 2018(Zhao et al. 2019).

Optimal design of culling compensation policy under the African swine fever——Based on simulations of typical pig farms in China

This paper aims to optimize the culling compensation policy from a micro perspective through scenario simulation.Based on an investigation of 273 pig farms in eight regions,four typical pig farms were constructed according to farm size and breeding mode,representing the swine producers in China.Besides,a decision objective function of pig farms facing suspected African swine fever(ASF)outbreaks was constructed.This study used a mathematical programming model to design and simulate scenarios based on compensation standards and local implementation levels,aiming to incentivize pig farms to report epidemics.The results show that the optimal decisions on epidemic reports differed among typical farms and by herd daily age.The results suggest the following adjustments for optimizing culling compensation policies:(1)to set culling compensation standards based on the market value and(2)to maintain a high level of epidemic surveillance capability in the animal husbandry and veterinary sector.

Effect of Attenuated Highly Pathogenic Pig Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome(HP-PRRS) TJM-F92 Strain Vaccine on Immune Antibody Levels against Classical Swine Fever(CSF) and Foot-and-Mouth Disease(FMD)

Effects of attenuated highly pathogenic pig reproductive and respiratory syndrome（HP-PRRS）TJM-F92 strain vaccine on immune antibody level against classical swine fever（CSF）and foot-and-mouth disease（FMD）were studied from October 8 to November 12 in 2014,in order to optimize vaccination program of CSF,HP-PRRS and FMD and to provide scientific guidance for animal disease control and prevention work.The results showed that attenuated HP-PRRS（TJMF92 strain）vaccine had no significant effect on immune antibody level of hog cholera lapinized virus（HCLV,ST passage cell vaccine）attenuated vaccine and FMD-O inactivated vaccines（OZK/93 strain）,and single or combined use of three vaccines received good immunization effects.

种公猪精液中CSFV、PCV2和PRRSV多重PCR检测方法的建立及应用

旨在建立可同时检测猪精液中猪瘟病毒(CSFV)、猪圆环病毒2型(PCV2)和猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒(PRRSV)的多重PCR方法。根据GenBank数据库中的CSFV E2基因、PCV2 ORF2基因及PRRSV ORF5基因,设计3对特异性引物,通过优化反应条件和特异性、敏感性检验,建立可同时检测上述3种病原的多重PCR方法,用该方法对30份精液样品进行检测。结果表明,所建立的方法可同时扩增出734 bp(CSFV)、476 bp(PCV2)、305 bp(PRRSV)的目的条带,且对猪的其他病毒(PRV、PEDV、TEGV)扩增结果呈阴性,多重PCR最低检出限1×10^(7) copies/μL,具有良好的特异性和较高的灵敏度。用单一PCR与多重PCR方法对临床样品进行检测,两种方法的检测结果一致,表明该方法可同时对种公猪精液中CSFV、PCV2和PRRSV的检测。

The Lapinized Chinese Strain Vaccine Against Classical Swine Fever Virus:A Retrospective Review Spanning Half A Century

Classical swine fever （CSF）, a list A disease of Office International des Epizooties, is caused by classical swine fever virus （CSFV） belonging to the Flaviviridae family. The well-known lapinized Chinese strain of CSFV, also known as C-strain, was developed in China in the mid-1950s. In the past half a century, the vaccine has been proved to be safe and immunogenic in pigs of essentially any age. It is of high efficacy, providing immunized animals with broad-spectrum, sometimes lifelong, protection, which is contributed by both cell-mediated immunity and humoral immunity, against essentially all genotypes or subgenotypes of the virus. The maternal antibodies derived from immunized sows can confer solid protection of their offspring from disease; however, they have been proved to inhibit the successful active immunization of C-strain vaccine. The complete genomes of C-strain and dozens of established or field strains have been sequenced and annotated. Recently, the reverse genetics system of C-strain has been developed, resulting in several C- strain-derived candidate marker vaccines. Many countries manage to control or even eradicate CSF with the aid of mass vaccination with C-strain. in spite of these efforts, the eradication of the disease worldwide remains a big challenge and needs to go a long way, and provably still resorts to genetically modified C-strain vaccine. The authors present an overview of the characteristics of the vaccine, which has stood the test of half a century.

Inhibition of African swine fever virus in liquid and feed by medium-chain fatty acids and glycerol monolaurate

Background:The ongoing African swine fever virus(ASFv)epidemic has had a major impact on pig production globally and biosecurity efforts to curb ASFv infectivity and transmission are a high priority.It has been recently identified that feed and feed ingredients,along with drinking water,can serve as transmission vehicles and might facilitate transboundary spread of ASFv.Thus,it is important to test the antiviral activity of regulatory compatible,antiviral feed additives that might inhibit ASFv infectivity in feed.One promising group of feed additive candidates includes medium-chain fatty acids(MCFA)and monoglyceride derivatives,which are known to disrupt the lipid membrane surrounding certain enveloped viruses and bacteria.Results:The antiviral activities of selected MCFA,namely caprylic,capric,and lauric acids,and a related monoglyceride,glycerol monolaurate(GML),to inhibit ASFv in liquid and feed conditions were investigated and suitable compounds and inclusion rates were identified that might be useful for mitigating ASFv in feed environments.Antiviral assays showed that all tested MCFA and GML inhibit ASFv.GML was more potent than MCFA because it worked at a lower concentration and inhibited ASFv due to direct virucidal activity along with one or more other antiviral mechanisms.Dose-dependent feed experiments further showed that sufficiently high GML doses can significantly reduce ASFv infectivity in feed in a linear manner in periods as short as 30 min,as determined by infectious viral titer measurements.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)experiments revealed that GML treatment also hinders antibody recognition of the membrane-associated ASFv p72 structural protein,which likely relates to protein conformational changes arising from viral membrane disruption.Conclusion:Together,the findings in this study indicate that MCFA and GML inhibit ASFv in liquid conditions and that GML is also able to reduce ASFv infectivity in feed,which may help to curb disease transmission.

A Novel RT-LAMP Assay for Rapid and Simple Detection of Classical Swine Fever Virus

A simple and rapid assay for the detection of Classical swine fever virus(CSFV)was established using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification(RT-LAMP).This study describes the amplification of the genomic RNA of CSFV under isothermal conditions(63℃)within one hour,using a set of six primers(two outer primers,two inner primers and two loop primers).This RT-LAMP assay showed 100-fold higher sensitivity than the standard RT-PCR method and identified eighteen additional positive cases that were negative when tested by RT-PCR.This RT-LAMP was able to detect all the 13 strains of CSFV but not the BVDV.PRRSV.SIV. PRV-PCV,thus showed a good specificity.Products amplified by RT-LAMP can be visualized by agarose gel electrophoresis and in addition,either as a white precipitate at the bottom of the tube after a pulse spin or as a color change when dyed with SYBR Green I which are visible to the naked eye.Because RT-LAMP is low-cost and produces rapid results,it has the potential to be an excellent tool for CSFV surveillance in the field,especially in developing countries.

Genomic Sequence Determination of Classical Swine Fever Virus Persistent Infection Strain

Full genomic sequence of a newly isolated persistent infection strain of classical swine fever virus was firstly determined. It was demonstrated by sequence analyses that nucleotides homologies of this strain compared with virulent Shimen and vaccine HCLV were 89.7%and 87.7%, and homologies of amino acids were 94.8%and 93.3%, respectively. The sequencing results primarily suggest a tighter relationship between this persistent infection strain and virulent Shimen strain than vaccine HCLV strain.

Discrepancy of Classical Swine Fever Virus in Different Tissues by One-Step RT-PCR and Nested RT-PCR

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for the detection of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) in blood and tissue samples of field cases and experimentally inoculated pigs. The distribution of CSFV in different organ samples showed some discrepancies in infected pigs. Four weaner pigs were inoculated with C-strain vaccine virus, then samples of spleen, tonsil, lung, mesenteric lymph node, kidney and brain were collected after slaughter and tested for E2 and NS5B genes using one-step RT-PCR and nested RT-PCR. Using the same method, 12 field cases were simultaneously studied. A discrepancy of CSFV in different samples was found upon detecting the target gene. The most reliable diagnostic organs were spleen and tonsil, and the nested RT-PCR assay provided a highly sensitive and specific method with comparable performance to the one-step RT-PCR assay.

African swine fever and meat prices fluctuation:An empirical study in China based on TVP-VAR model

African swine fever(ASF),a fatal disease outbroken in China in August 2018,has widely attracted social concern especially in the information era.The occurrence of ASF led to an imbalance between supply and demand in pork and other meat markets.As a result,meat prices fluctuated greatly during the past year in 2019.To measure ASF quantitatively,the internet public concern index about ASF was created using web crawler methods.The relationships between ASF and meat prices were analyzed based on time-varying parameter vector auto-regressive(TVP-VAR)model.The results showed that there were some differences in the impact size,direction and duration of ASF on the prices of pork,chicken,beef and mutton,and the characteristics of time variability and heterogeneity were obvious.At the same time,the impact of ASF on meat prices is not consistent with the trend and degree of ASF.The impulse intensity is strongly correlated with the strength and duration of ASF,and it is generally weak in the early stage and much stronger in the middle and late periods.The results indicate that macro regulations,monitoring and early-warning system,standardizing production and circulation,and the public opinion monitoring and guidance about ASF should be given more attention in future to stabilize the market expectations and to promote a smooth functioning of the livestock markets.

Insights into African swine fever virus immunoevasion strategies

African swine fever(ASF) is an acute and highly contagious disease that causes severe economic losses to the swine industry. ASF is caused by infection of African swine fever virus(ASFV) in domestic pigs, leading to almost 100% mortality. However, no effective vaccines and pharmacologic treatment against ASF are available. ASF poses a severe threat to the swine industry and the economy. Here we summarize potential virus-host cell interaction mechanisms involving the suppression of innate and adaptive immune responses to ASFV entry and infection. These mechanisms include modulation of apoptosis, inhibition of inflammatory responses, reduction of IFN production, inhibition of autophagy, and suppression of MHC-I expression. Insights into immunoevasion strategies by ASFV may shed light on the development of vaccines, as well as preventive and therapeutic drugs.

Rapid Recovery of Classical Swine Fever Virus Directly from Cloned cDNA

The reverse genetics for classical swine fever virus （CSFV） is currently based on the transfection of in vitro transcribed RNA from a viral genomic cDNA clone, which is inefficient and time-consuming. This study was aimed to develop an improved method for rapid recovery of CSFV directly from cloned cDNA. Full-length genomic cDNA from the CSFV Shimen strain, which was flanked by a T7 promoter, the hepatitis delta virus ribozyme and T7 terminator sequences, was cloned into the low- copy vector pOK12, producing pOKShimen-RzTФ. Direct transfection of pOKShimen-RzTqb into PK/T7 cells, a PK-15- derived cell line stably expressing bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase, allowed CSFV to be rescued rapidly and efficiently, i.e., at least 12 h faster and 31.6-fold greater viral titer when compared with the in vitro transcription-based rescue system. Furthermore, the progeny virus rescued from PK/T7 cells was indistinguishable, both in vitro and in vivo, from its parent virus and the virus rescued from classical reverse genetics. The reverse genetics based on intracellular transcription is efficient, convenient and cost-effective. The PK/T7 cell line can be used to rescue CSFV directly from cloned cDNA and it can also be used as an intracellular transcription and expression system for studying the structure and function of viral genes.

An Indirect ELISA of Classical Swine Fever Virus Based on Quadruple Antigenic Epitope Peptide Expressed in E.coli

In this study,a synthesized quadruple antigenic epitope gene region of the classical swine fever virus (CSFV)E2 glycoprotein was expressed in E.coli to a obtain target protein.This target protein was used as a coating antigen to establish an indirect ELISA for specifically detecting anti-CSFV antibodies in serum samples from pigs.The P/N cut-off value of this assay was 1.92 by receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)analysis based on 30 negative sera and 80 positive samples.The test gave 97.5%sensitivity and 96.7%specificity compared with the indirect hemagglutination(IHA)test.The inter-assay and intra-assay coefficients of variation (CVs)for 16 sera were both≤6.8%.No cross-reactivity between the coating antigen and anti-bovine viral diarrhoea virus(BVDV)antibodies was observed.

Generation and Immunogenicity of a Recombinant Adenovirus Co-Expressing the E2 Protein of Classical Swine Fever Virus and the GP5 Protein of Porcine Reproduction and Respiratory Syndrome Virus

Classical swine fever （CSF） and porcine reproduction and respiratory syndrome （PRRS） are both economically important, highly contagious diseases of swine worldwide. To develop an effective vaccine to control these two diseases, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus rAdV-GP52AE2, using a replication-defective human adenovirus serotype 5 as a delivery vector, to co-express the GP5 protein of highly pathogenic porcine reproduction and respiratory syndrome virus （PRRSV） and the E2 protein of classical swine fever virus （CSFV）. Foot-and-mouth disease virus （FMDV） 2A peptide was used as a linker between the GP5 and E2 proteins to allow automatic self-cleavage of the polyprotein. The GP5 and E2 genes were expressed as demonstrated by immunofluorescence assay and Western blotting. Immunization of mice resulted in a CSFV-neutralizing antibody titer of 1：128 and a PRRSV-neutralizing antibody titer of 1：16. The lymphoproliferative responses were detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and the stimulation index of CFSV-specific and PRRSV-specific lymphocytes in the rAdV-GP52AE2 group was significantly higher than that in the negative control group. The results show that rAdV-GP52AE2 can induce both effective humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in mice. The protective efficacy of the recombinant virus against CSF was evaluated in immunized rabbits, which were protected from fever induced by challenge with C-strain. Our study provides supporting evidence for the use of FMDV 2A to develop a bivalent genetically-engineered vaccine.

Development of Multiple ELISAs for the Detection of Antibodies against Classical Swine Fever Virus in Pig Sera

The major immunogenic proteins （Ems, E2 and NS3） of classical swine fever virus （CSFV） （Shimen strain） were expressed in E. coli and purified by affinity chromatography. The recombinant antigens were applied to develop multiple enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays （ELISAs） for the detection of specific antibodies in pig sera. Optimum cut-off values were determined by receiver operating characteristic （ROC） analysis after testing 201 sera of vaccinated pigs and 64 negative sera of unvaccinated piglets. The multiple ELISAs were validated with 265 pig sera yielding high sensitivity and specificity in comparison with the virus neutralization results. The results demonstrated that multiple ELISAs can be a valuable tool for the detection of CSFV infection and serological surveys in CSFV-free countries or for the evaluation of the antibody responses in pigs induced by a live attenuated C-strain vaccination